The Cougars hold a 20-24 record this season, as well as a 3-6 record in the AAC. | Matthew Barrett/The Cougar

The softball team will take a one-game break from American Athletic Conference play as it heads to Nacogdoches to take on the Stephen F. Austin University Lumberjacks at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The Cougars had their toughest stretch of the season beginning April 1 when they played No. 23 University of South Florida, No. 17 University of Arizona and No. 19 Baylor University in a consecutive series. During that span, UH went 2-6 and struggled on both sides of the ball as they were outscored 43 to 25.

In their last series against the University of Central Florida Knights, the Cougars dominated the first game in a 7-0 shutout. In the next two games, the Cougars lost 8-0 and then 8-3.

The Cougars enter the game against SFA with a 20-24 overall record. Although the Lumberjacks share a similar record, the Cougars have played twice as many ranked teams.

A starting pitcher has not been announced for the game, but to win, the Cougars will need their starters to step up. There is no UH starting pitcher who has an earned-run average better than a 3.65, and only one pitcher, junior Shelby Miller, has a winning record.

The UH offense will also have to rely on senior standout Katie St. Pierre and freshman Maya Thomas to continue to get on base and set up their team for success.

The Cougars will resume conference games when they travel to North Carolina to take on the East Carolina University Pirates on Friday.

The series against the Pirates should give the Cougars an opportunity to move up in the AAC standings, as ECU is ranked last in the conference, and the two teams immediately in front of the Cougars are only one and two games ahead.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Softball takes one-game break from AAC play against SFA” was originally posted on The Daily Cougar